September 1996

TORONTO-Clearnet Communications Inc. has launched its business communications service, a digital wireless telecommunications service that integrates mobile phone, dispatch or group and private call radio, alphanumeric paging and messaging services in one handset. Clearnet said the service uses Motorola Inc.s …

Centigram Communications Corp. announced it will sell its MobileManager enhanced services platform to Paging Network Inc. for limited testing this year with possible commercial deployment later. Centigram developed MobileManager in partnership with Priority Call Management. It is designed to support …

WAKEFIELD, Mass.-Boston Technology Inc. has agreed to provide Escotel Mobile Communications Ltd. with systems and software for voice messaging services for its Global System for Mobile communications network in India. According to the four-year contract, valued at $3.7 million, Boston …

American Tower Corp. is expected to close soon on the acquisition of Prime Communication Sites L.L.C., which will give Texas-based American nearly 200 additional tower sites and complete the company’s goal of creating “the first nationwide rental tower company.” American …

TEL AVIV, Israel-Nexus Telecommunication Systems Ltd. and Ex Machina Inc. have agreed to develop personal computer-based message entry and retrieval software to operate with the Nexus two-way paging system. The application will allow users to send and receive text messages …

The futuresque communications previously only envisioned by StarTrek’s writers are reality in the here and now as demonstrated at PCS ’96 by students of Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab, in conjunction with Motorola Inc. The communications technology projects exhibited …

BEIJING-China Telecom, a division of the country’s Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, has selected Motorola Inc.’s Advanced Messaging Group to supply infrastructure equipment to implement China’s FLEX national backbone paging network in Beijing, Shanghai and nine major provincial capital cities. …

SAN FRANCISCO-AirTouch Paging, a division of AirTouch Communications Inc., announced it will add New York City to its paging network. AirTouch currently serves several major cities in the Northeast, including Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore and Washington D.C. “Opening our New York …

I’m still recovering from PCS ’96 in San Francisco. Between the 400 exhibitors, about 15,000 attendees and 30 sessions, I just couldn’t take it all in. In fact, PCIA said it had to turn away numerous companies that wanted to …

EUGENE, Ore.-The Eugene City Council voted Sept. 16 to put in place a 120-day moratorium on tower building in the area, but accepted applications for sites submitted before the moratorium was established, said City Planner Cathy Czerniak. “We didn’t want …

CLEVELAND-The private banking division of Cleveland-based KeyCorp is introducing a cellular phone that lets customers do banking and investing anytime and anywhere they want. The KeyMobile phone was developed by Realogic Inc. and is based on Pacific Communications Sciences Inc.’s …

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill.-Alcatel Telecom and Motorola Inc.’s Cellular Infrastructure Group will purchase each other’s wireless equipment according to a memorandum of understanding announced Thursday. According to the agreement, Alcatel will be allowed to purchase and distribute Motorola’s Code Division Multiple …

A California manufacturer is producing a paging repeater that it believes is unique and will appeal to carriers battling high installation costs. The P450 by AML Communications Inc. has a split chassis design. Most repeaters are housed in a single …

NEW YORK-LCC International Inc., an independent provider of radio frequency network design for wireless telecommunications, went public Sept. 25 with a 5.25 million share offering of Class A common stock at $16 each. The new issue was increased from the …

NEW YORK-Glenayre Technologies Inc. authorized its management Sept. 25 to repurchase up to 2.5 million shares, or 4 percent of the company’s common stock, in addition to the 1.5 million share repurchase completed Sept. 20. Glenayre’s stock closed on Nasdaq …

SAN FRANCISCO-Allen Telecom Group President Erik van der Kaay announced at PCS ’96 that the company’s recent and pending acquisitions position the company as a leading global provider of a truly integrated and comprehensive line of telecommunications products and test …

The option to pay in advance for wireless service is booming in the cellular industry. The same trend may soon spread in paging. Grab ‘n Go is a prepaid beeper package unveiled by SkyTel Corp. and Sony Wireless Telecommunications Co. …

SAN FRANCISCO-Pacific Bell is testing PACS technology for possible use as a wireless local loop product. A Personal Access Communications System was deployed as a test in San Francisco using the AIReach technology of Hughes Network Systems Inc. Hughes radio …

The village of Schaumburg, Ill., and the city of Half Moon Bay, Calif., allege the U.S. Postal Service is overstepping its legal bounds for building tower sites on post office property, disregarding local zoning authorities in favor of making money …

NEW YORK-Citing numerous customer complaints, the Better Business Bureau of Metropolitan Dallas has expelled Excel Communications Inc., a large reseller of wireline and wireless telephone services, from its membership. Excel officials met with Better Business Bureau representatives Sept. 23 to …

The market for handheld devices may get a shot in the arm now that Microsoft Corp. has introduced Windows CE, a 32-bit operating system platform that can support a broad range of communications, computing and entertainment products, including those for …

EL DORADO HILLS, Calif.-International Billing Services will provide statement processing and presentment services to Powertel Inc. for its new base of personal communications services customers, under a five-year agreement. Powertel, a wholly owned subsidiary of InterCel Inc., is a PCS …

WASHINGTON-The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association late last week petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to pre-empt excessive or discriminatory taxation of commercial wireless carriers, calling the growing trend “a profound moral hazard.” The filing represents the wireless industry’s most serious attempt …

SAN FRANCISCO-Philips Electronics NV of the Netherlands and Motorola Inc. announced a cross-licensing agreement giving Philips access to the FLEX family of messaging technologies, including the FLEX one-way, ReFLEX two-way and InFLEXion voice messaging protocols. In addition, Philips Semiconductor Division, …

ATLANTA-AvData Systems Inc. and NEC America Inc.’s Satellite Communications Division announced at PCS ’96 the introduction of AvData’s Very Small Aperture Terminal Network Infrastructure system. VNI is a high-speed VSAT network for narrowband personal communications services that is specifically tailored …